The present invention is generally directed to a water quality management system and method and more particularly to a water quality management system and method of adjusting and maintaining the water content in an estuary, marina, harbor or embayment by automatically controlling bi-directional flow of water into and out of the estuary or embayment to provide a well balanced ecosystem that supports the prosperous growth of plants, plankton and marine life.
Estuaries (or lagoons) developed over eons and their hydrologic relationship between land and ocean were in a state of variable equilibrium with regards to the influence of freshwater inflow and nutrient cycling. Over time, river-transported sand conveyed by long-shore ocean currents formed barrier islands. Natural inlets were established as the water head in the estuaries sought an outlet to the ocean. These natural inlets served to adequately preserve this hydrologic relationship carrying ocean water into the estuaries and carrying mixed water (fresh water and sea water) out to the ocean.
Estuaries are habitats or nurseries for many of the planet""s marine life and play an integral role in the marine food web. At the same time, estuaries (or lagoons) are in high demand as recreational centers and have high-value, waterfront real estate concerns. Man""s influence in this coastal zone has disrupted the hydrologic balance by sending too much freshwater runoff into the estuaries, causing the natural system to deteriorate over time, thereby detrimentally affecting these habitats and the marine life contained therein. Indeed, declining oceanic stocks have been recently recognized by the White House and Congress as a national priority topic. The xe2x80x9cyear of the oceansxe2x80x9d is being revived and, both oceans and restoration of estuaries will soon be receiving great attention from federal, state and local governments. In one example, the federal government and State of Florida have earmarked over $7 Billion for the Florida Everglades Restoration Initiative. The National Estuaries Program is yet another large example that governments are taking serious action to improve our coastal marine habitats.
To restore balance to these marine habitats so marine life can flourish requires either reducing freshwater inflows and/or increasing seawater influx to the estuary. Since changing human habitat conditions is difficult and very expensive, reducing freshwater inflow does not appear to be a viable option. Cutting new inlet channels would be a feasible solution were it not for dense residential developments existing on the national barrier islands. Additionally, federal and state governments are strongly opposed to creating man-made inlets as they disrupt long-shore sand transport, cause erosion on the down-current side of the inlet and generally create an expensive maintenance program.
Accordingly, a need exists for a water quality management system and method for regulating the influx of sea water into an estuary and indeed any land-locked body of water (e.g., marina, harbor or embayment). A further need exists for such a system that may be remotely controlled and automated to provide instantaneous control over the influx of sea water and if necessary outflow of fresh water to maintain an equilibrium between fresh water and sea water for marine life to flourish within an estuary.
The present invention is generally directed to a water quality management system and method that controls the exchange of water between two bodies of water separated by at least one land barrier. In an exemplary embodiment, an estuary or embayment is one body of water and the other body of water is the ocean. The system consists of one or a series of water exchange units that are disposed in the estuary or embayment and knowledge-linked into a water quality management system that is remotely controlled from a central location. Each water exchange unit may comprise a conduit extending through the land barrier having a terminal end on the ocean side and a terminal end on the estuary side. The exchange of water between the ocean and estuary through the conduit may be effected using reversible pumps connected to the terminal end of the conduit on the estuary side.
The pumps are preferably controlled from a remote location based on feed back data received from sensors located both in the estuary and ocean. The sensor data, which may include data on rain fall, tide cycles, salinity, temperature and turbidity are processed to control the pumps to maintain the water content in the estuary or embayment at desired levels. That is, ocean water may be pumped into the estuary or embayment and/or estuary or embayment water pumped into the ocean, as necessary, to maintain the water content of the estuary or embayment at desired levels for marine life to flourish.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a water quality management system and method for regulating the influx of sea water into an estuary and indeed any land-locked body of water (e.g., marina, harbor or embayment).
It is a further object of the present invention is to provide such a system including water exchange units that may be remotely controlled and automated to provide instantaneous control over the influx of sea water and if necessary outflow of fresh water to maintain an equilibrium between fresh water and sea water for marine life to flourish within an estuary.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method for exchanging water between to bodies of water separated by a barrier.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a method including the step of installing a water passage means (e.g., conduit) using HDD or combinations of HDD and open-cut trench techniques.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the system embodying features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.